Rarity
by butterflydarlin
Summary: It's natural to be curious, Inara tells her. In-series, somewhat AU. M for batteries and lady times.
1. 1

Clearly sometime in/around "War Stories." Somewhat AU, in that there is the potential for lady-sexin'. M rating for the gratuitous use of batteries.

Not mine. Joss is boss. Always.

* * *

They're all dumbfounded by the beauty of Inara and her lady client standing together, but Kaylee is startled to find there's a sensation like air going out of her when the door shuts behind them. The others spread throughout the ship, going about things as usual, but she lingers awhile, unable to tear her gaze away from that shuttle door.

She chalks it up to a pure sense of loneliness, one that, despite being around the others near every moment, still has a way of kicking in. Sometimes the loneliest place is surrounded by others who've really got something: Wash has Zoe, and Simon'd look after River come hell or high water. Inara's never alone less she wants it that way, Jayne's got his guns and women whenever they dock. The Shepherd, well, he's got his God. Mal has… well, _he'd _realize he had Inara if he opened his eyes all the way, wouldn't he?

On a good day, Kaylee tells herself she's got the ship. She's got _Serenity_, her girl. Not many a woman her age could say they've got a girl so trusty, nor one that's weathered so many storms. But everyone's got _Serenity_, one way or t'other. They've all got their own parts and pieces what belong to them. So it's no real consolation.

Everything's more than shiny amongst the engines, and not much else for her to do about the rest. Everyone's busy some way, and Kaylee figures she won't be much missed if she retreats into her bunk awhile. Not to imply she's in a mood; little Kaylee and moods don't go side by side. But she's less than her usual self, and she reckons a bit of time to sort out what she's thinking might be helpful.

Drawing her knees into her chest, she lets her thoughts drift to Inara and her woman client. 'Course it made _sense_ a Companion'd take both sexes time to time, women have needs same as men. More, sometimes. And not as if they can just _take _what they want same's a man. They've got softness to contend with, and all those impulses they hear can't be trusted. If they take the lead, it's being pushy, and Kaylee doesn't mind being pushy, but plenty out there who she'd try to push would take offense.

She imagines it's easier with another woman, in a lot of ways. No panic regarding whether things fit, or if there's gonna be consequences nine months down the line. A woman understands which places _really _feel right, what little spots a man might never notice. And a woman doesn't worry about what they did upholding their reputation or whether they size up the same. It's simple, sweet. It has to be.

She imagines Inara and that client, slightly older, short blonde hair, fine and fancier than she herself could ever dream to be. The way their soft bodies would match up, fall together; their skin pale against Inara's red satin sheets. Her eyes close, and in her mind she's the blonde woman, and Inara's lips meet hers.

This could account for that twisty feeling in the pit of her stomach watching them sequester themselves, Kaylee reckons. A blush rises in her cheeks as she entertains these thoughts of Inara, Inara the Companion, Inara her best friend. She's not sure which title makes her blush more, but ain't wrong just to think. She'd never –

She might.

Biting her lip, she slides out of her coveralls. The heavy fabric falls to a heap on the floor, and she reaches one hand down, slow and careful, to slip under the fabric of her panties. Men never could find that _place _that felt just right, not without a lot of prompting, but a woman could. Easy. She works in a slow circle at first, feeling the warmth start and spread through her body. She's always to the point with others, but she teases herself, running two fingers over her slit but not letting them enter.

There's all she needs under the bed, and it's a testament to her need how quick she finds it and flicks it on. Kaylee runs her other hand over her breasts, fingernails scratching lightly, as she glides the trusty little vibrator into her. She's wet before it even enters, and it's unmistakable, now, that when she closes her eyes it's Inara's hands working this magic on her body and not her own. Her breath comes in quick gasps and sighs, and her hips buck into the toy. Her mind is full of Inara: dark curls brushing over Kaylee's pale skin, lips against her throat, delicate hands so soft and knowing.

When she climbs up for dinner, River's standing in the corridor, eyeing her with a curious expression. "You want what you don't have," she says. "It's a screaming need."

Kaylee is sure River's just being her usual cryptic self, but it still causes her to blush.

"There's no shame in wanting," River tells her.

* * *

They hit the black once more, and Inara comes across Kaylee in the kitchen one night, sitting with her head in her hands at the table. "_Mèimei_, is everything all right?" Inara questions, her eyebrows knitting together with concern.

Kaylee brightens, regarding her friend and fantasy with the lit-up eyes of someone who's just woken. 'Been doin' some thinkin', is all," she says vaguely.

"On what subject?"

She bites her lip, then turns in her chair to face Inara properly, even as her cheeks redden. "What's it like, 'Nara? F'you, bein' with another woman?"

Inara seems unsurprised by the question, but she doesn't rush into answering. "Has everyone been discussing my latest client, I take it?" It's said with a smile, to show she doesn't mean any accusation by it, but it strikes Kaylee as evasive.

"It's natural to be curious," Inara says gently. "I suppose it's different from woman to woman, just as it is from man to man. I couldn't explain it perfectly."

A sigh escapes Kaylee's parted lips, and she leans on the chair, her eyes tracking Inara as she moves catty-corner to her. "Just got to wonderin', I s'pose."

"Kaylee. Sweetie, your hair's all tangles," Inara near exclaims, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet. "Come on, let me fix that for you."

She feels like a little girl, following Inara back to her shuttle – not hardly the composed, glamorous woman whose footsteps she wishes she was walking in. But she does as Inara says, sitting on a cushion before Inara's bed as the other woman positions herself behind her and takes a brush to her messy hair. Kaylee's eyes flutter closed, just enjoying this light touch.

"What it feels like?" Inara continues quietly. "Well." She sets the brush down and slips her hands to Kaylee's shoulders, applying light pressure to the tense muscles. "It's a great deal… softer. Often, though not always, more gentle." And then she practically doubles over, reaching her hands to take Kaylee's. She rests her head against Kaylee's shoulder, and her own eyes close as she adds, "It's much rarer for me to choose a woman."

Her lips find Kaylee's, and the younger woman smiles. Everything she'd hoped it would be and more.

* * *

_mèimei_; "little sister"


	2. 2

Same disclaimer as before. _Finally _updated.

Now M _for_ lady-sexin'.

* * *

For a time, it's just their lips against each other, Kaylee shifting to make it more comfortable, Inara's arms wrapping around her. They're testing each other's reactions: Kaylee making sure that it's not just a mistake, not just Inara being nice, Inara making sure that she's not scaring Kaylee away somehow, not reading too much into it. She doesn't often make a move when someone hasn't explicitly told her to; she's forgotten, a bit, what the nerves truly feel like.

After a while, Inara reaches to lift Kaylee up so they're both sitting on the edge of the bed, still kissing, still both smiling into it. There's no point, Inara figures, in not being honest; Kaylee can't help _but _be. Inara's hands tease around the zipper of Kaylee's coveralls, and when Kaylee notices it, she flushes and nods. The zipper comes down, Kaylee searches in Inara's eyes for a cue to pull off her own shirt. Once she sees that, she's fast about it, not bothering to try and play coy.

She reaches her hands around to Inara's own zipper, but she blushes. "I shouldn't," she murmurs, pulling away.

"Shouldn't?" Inara repeats.

"I'd – I'd make a mess of it," Kaylee says.

"Kaylee," Inara says, quiet but forceful. "I don't care."

So Kaylee tugs on the zipper, careful, and she can't help but marvel at the beauty of Inara's body. She doesn't even have the same underthings like most women; it's somewhere between a bra and a corset, the fabric almost more grand than that of the dress, the golden threads picking up light against her skin. Kaylee hadn't figured on this: as much as she wants this, and she does, there's so much comparison going on in her head. She's asking herself how she can possibly hold up to someone this splendid.

That's part of what attracts Inara, though. That Kaylee is so unpretentious, that there's no ceremony to it. She's impressed, really and truly, by the fact that Kaylee manages to be so lovely with nothing but scarred-up, grease-stained skin and scraps of cotton. Not because she'd thought anything less, but because she finds it so wonderful.

She can see that Kaylee's still nervous, and she moves to pull her dress over her head herself before she gently nudges Kaylee back. As soon as she's at the right angle, Inara tugs the boots, the coveralls, off of her body; Kaylee's biting her lip, wondering how in all the worlds she got to this place.

"It's all right, _băobèi_," Inara whispers. "It's real." It comes as much from seeing Kaylee's sense of wonder – this is actually happening – as from a need to assure her that this isn't just her doing her job – it's genuine, too. This is her doing exactly what she'd like to right now.

Kaylee glances down a moment, then back up. Her look is so trusting, so sincere, that it almost makes Inara anxious too. It's different, she has to remind herself, with someone completely there of – of what she can assume is mutual attraction. Not just someone who's seeking a service from her.

Inara positions herself atop the younger woman, her hair brushing Kaylee's skin as she'd imagined it would. She reaches around to tug Kaylee's panties off, undo her bra, then reaches for her own garment; flushing, Kaylee whispers, "But it's so pretty."

It's such a _Kaylee _thing to say, and it makes Inara smile. After a second, though, the smile turns slower, more sultry, and she says, just as quiet, "Would you like me to keep it on for you, then?"

She's redder still when she replies, "Only if you wanna. It's just that you're so beautiful, in or out of anything."

Inara smiles, somewhere between flirtatious and reassuring. "You know that you're beautiful, too."

"Cute, maybe," Kaylee immediately corrects. "Not _beautiful_, not really."

Now Inara frowns, kissing Kaylee with more intensity. "No, _tiánxīn_," she murmurs. "Beautiful. Your eyes, your smile. Your everything."

Kaylee's flushed red, now. She knows the difference between false flattery and real, and this's real, she sees now. Inara uses this distraction to her advantage and angles to plant kisses on Kaylee's throat.

Of course, this gets Kaylee redder, her lips hesitantly fixing into a smile. She doesn't know how many she's been with before, how many lips have touched her skin like this, but it's different now. Because Inara's… because she's _Inara_.

She moves to sit up, to participate _somehow_, but Inara gives another of those smiles, patient and a bit bossy all at once, her eyes twinkling.

"There's time for everything," she declares.

"Takin' turns," Kaylee says in echo. "Lettin' you steer."

"Yes," Inara agrees softly. "For now, just – just let me steer. I'd like to."

The colloquialism is odd on Inara's tongue, but it makes them both relax some. She calms Kaylee a bit more, hands on her forearms, as she descends further. Kaylee's biting her lip, feeling a warmth beginning to spread through her.

"You've not – done anything like this before, have you," Inara half-asks, half-confirms.

"Sorta?" Kaylee hesitates. "I mean, I've kissed a few girls, been interested enough, but it never… y'know."

"All the more reason, then," Inara smiles, and she raises herself up again to kiss Kaylee's mouth, drop kisses along her throat and between her breasts and over her stomach. She leaves a lipstick trail on Kaylee's body, a faint one, but still proof, proof that calls a blush up along her whole body as it's left.

Reaching her target, Inara presses her lips against Kaylee's thigh, almost hesitantly at first. She's doesn't know how many she's had before, how many bodies she's touched like this, but it's different now. Because Kaylee's… because she's _Kaylee_.

One hand still around Kaylee's, Inara lets her mouth trace over the other woman's slit, gentle, and she moves her other hand to follow. She's barely touching her, but Kaylee's body shakes, her eyes wide.

"_Wŏ qīn'ài de _Kaylee," she whispers. "You're trembling."

"Good trembling," she assures, and she reaches her free hand to tuck Inara's hair behind her ear tenderly.

The gesture makes Inara smile, and she refocuses her attentions, soon shifting from that softest touch to something a bit needier. She's desperate for Kaylee's fingers against her skin, for the mewling moans she's letting out already.

When Kaylee hasn't got her hand resting on Inara's body, she's gripping the bedsheets, curling into a fist and releasing again. "_Gorramit_, 'Nara," she breathes, over and over. Of course she's good at this, of course she's got ways Kaylee's not felt before in dreams nor reality either.

Inara untangles her fingers from Kaylee's and reaches to hold both of her hips instead, not stilling but steadying them as they buck against her mouth. Kaylee's so _sincere_, so _blissful_, that it's hard not to enjoy herself, too. She tastes as sweet as, maybe sweeter than, would be expected; she's practically glowing with her body laid bare and open like this.

Her fingertips press against Kaylee's skin; Kaylee's feeling a need building in her belly, intense, almost painful, as she surrenders to the delirium. Inara's tongue traces over her sensitive spots, slow and fast and slow and fast, and she can tell by the louder and louder whining that Kaylee's close.

She's stopped holding herself back, she _can't _anymore, she's shaking and shrieking and digging her bitten-down fingernails into Inara's shoulders. Inara looks up, smiling at the sight of her there writhing and ecstatic, and as she meets her eyes, Kaylee climaxes.

Inara waits it out, massaging the other woman's legs and hips gently as she orgasms and pressing a kiss, light and sweet, to her clit. The unexpected touch gets another high, short cry out of her.

Then, spent, she's falling back against the pillows, and Inara's curling beside her. She throws an arm over her middle, presses the cool silk of her underthings against Kaylee's warm, flushed skin.

"Does that answer your question, _băobèi_?" she asks.

"Oh, yeah," Kaylee pants, smiling lazily.

"Good," Inara declares. "I never mind helping someone so kind and lovely."

Kaylee wrinkles her nose, then. "You keep sayin' these sweet things, and with you, I dunno what I oughta say back," she admits. "You must've heard it all."

"Kaylee," Inara says. "Whatever anyone else says is irrelevant in this moment, and besides, what you might say would mean that much more to me, being from you."

"I just – I think I should try not to think, is what," Kaylee giggles. "You make me kinda nervous, y'know, but it's – I'm not sure, a nice kinda nervous."

"Would you be surprised," Inara begins, "If I said that you make me nervous, too?"

A loud laugh. "Why'd I do a thing like that?"

"You're a rarity, _tiánxīn_," Inara declares. "You inspire such joy just by _being_. It's an enviable quality, and it just adds to the beauty you radiate."

Kaylee's turning to bury her face against Inara's shoulder now. "There you go again, sayin' such pretty words," she exclaims, trying not to laugh. "Maybe this's why I worry."

"What I'm telling you, sweetheart, is that you don't have to," Inara says softly. "That in this moment, I want _this_, and I want _you_, and nothing else quite matters."

Kaylee searches her face for the truth of it, and she doesn't have to search long. It's written plain as can be. "'Nara…"

"Yes?"

And all she does is shift, wrap arms around Inara and pull her closer. She presses a kiss to the join of Inara's shoulder and throat as she sets about unfastening the garments.

"What are you doing, Kaylee?" Inara asks (not without a certain hope in her voice).

"I'm in this moment," Kaylee replies, almost huskily. "And nothing else but this matters a whit."

* * *

_tiánxīn_; "sweetheart"  
_băobèi_; "darling"


End file.
